Truly on Track?
‘Germany is on track!’ economic and climate action minister Robert Habeck confidently declared, hailing his country’s 2030 carbon reduction efforts. But behind the assured headline lies a more complex reality.
Germany is banking on the EU Emissions Trading scheme (ETS) to drive down emissions in the challenging transport and building sectors. A price on carbon will apparently cure all ills.
The Commission is also heavily relying on today’s ETS rules to deliver tomorrow’s decarbonisation. It was recently estimated that the current ETS framework can largely deliver an 88% reduction in greenhouse gases by 2040.
This is because 90% of European energy, transport, and industrial process emissions now fall under the scheme’s scope. Emissions within the ETS must drop to zero by 2040, with an extra four years’ grace for buildings, aviation, and road emissions.
But again – look beyond these reassuring headlines. To achieve these reductions the Commission foresees big roles for carbon capture, hydrogen usage, and e-fuels. All promising technologies – but none of which exist at a meaningful scale today.
As our journalists investigated this week, there are several day-to-day decarbonisation challenges, for example, ensuring adequate grid investment and sourcing critical raw materials. Or even just maintaining Europe’s spluttering nuclear stations.
Economists have long seen carbon pricing as a key driver of carbon reduction efforts. It is fantastic that this is finally becoming a reality – at least in Europe.
However many new policies and actions are still needed to turn price signals into concrete action, with constant vigilance needed to protect the current ETS framework.
Europe’s carbon trading success is grounds for confidence. But never for complacency.
Europe’s coal legacy remains a major climate hurdle
The EU emits more methane from coal than other fossil fuels combined, owing to continued mining operations in Europe with insufficient measures in place – and a legacy of abandoned mines.
EU Parliament approves proposal to reduce textile and food waste
The European Parliament on Wednesday (13 March) backed targets for the prevention and reduction of food and textile waste across the bloc. However, environmental NGOs have criticised the proposal’s lack of ambition.
France’s EDF faces uphill battle as Europe’s demand for nuclear reactors grows
France’s EDF has recently come under fire for increasing project costs and delays, while problems with its existing fleet of reactors have resurfaced. Euractiv looks at what this means for the state-owned energy giant as the industry appears to be in full swing.
- EU gives final green light to critical raw materials strategy – By Eliza Gkritsi
- New law to protect European energy consumers from market manipulation – By Nathan Canas
- European Parliament approves relaxed Euro 7 emissions requirements while stakeholders remain divided – By Olivia Gyapong
- Europe’s high-voltage grid investment gap worse than feared – By Nikolaus J. Kurmayer
SOFIA. Bulgarian nuclear experts question the economic viability of the new nuclear project. Bulgarian nuclear experts are questioning the economic feasibility of the country’s plan to build two US nuclear reactors at the Kozloduy nuclear power plant, raising questions on funding and whether the country has the ability to finance to purchase energy from these plants. Read more.
PRAGUE. Polish court sides with Czechs and cancels environmental assessment of controversial mine. A Polish court has come to the defence of Czech citizens, by overturning the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the Turów mine, a controversial Polish open-cast mine near the Czech border. Read more.
BUCHAREST. Romania delays adoption of energy and climate plan, casts doubt on renewable targets. The Romanian government will neither adopt its National Integrated Energy and Climate Change Plan before the expected 30 June deadline nor will the country meet the EU’s renewable energy targets, said an energy ministry official on Thursday. Read more.
SOFIA. Leaked documents reveal Kremlin control over Turkish Stream pipeline construction through Bulgaria. Leaked documents from the emails of Russian politicians show that the Kremlin, through Russian and Belarusian companies, had full control over the construction of the Turkish Stream gas pipeline through Bulgaria from 2019 to 2021, despite then prime minister Boyko Borisov’s claims, that the project was under the control of the Bulgarian government, Capital reported. Read more.
Germany ordered to fully transpose the Renewable Energy Directive (RED). The European Commission has decided to send an additional reasoned opinion to Germany, after the one of May 2022, for failing to sufficiently explain how each provision of the directive has been transposed into German law.
In December 2023, France was criticised by the Commission for failing to implement the EU’s renewable energy directive in its National Energy and Climate Plan (NECP).
The RED provides the legal framework for the development of renewable energies in the electricity, heating and cooling, and transport sectors in the EU. Germany now has two months to respond and take the necessary measures. Otherwise, it’s off to see the EU judges based in Luxembourg. [Nathan Canas]
Italy freezes plans for gas transit charge. Following a revolt by central and eastern European countries, led by Czechia and Austria, Italy’s designated regulator, Arera, has frozen plans to charge upwards of €2 per MWh extra, beyond traditional charges, for gas transported across its territory.
Germany introduced a similar charge to recoup the losses incurred for gas purchases in 2022. The levy makes non-Russian gas more costly for countries without access to maritime Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) shipments, and has been accused of distorting the European energy market. Berlin is in talks with Brussels, following a strongly worded letter from central and eastern countries in February.
Arera cited “the ongoing debate at the European level on the need to avoid the adoption of unilateral measures such as taxes/fees, which could endanger energy solidarity” as their reason for the move, Montel reported. [Nikolaus J. Kurmayer]
- New fiscal rules need to support Europe’s industrial ambition – By Judith Kirton-Darling, Marco Mensink and William Todts
- 21-22 MARCH. European Council
- 25 MARCH. Environment Council
- 10 April. Stocktaking on the clean transition dialogues.
- 10-11 APRIL. Parliament Mini-Plenary (Brussels)
- 15-16 APRIL. Informal Energy Council
- 22-25 APRIL. Last Parliament plenary session before the European elections
- Circularity requirements for vehicle design and on management of end-of-life vehicles
- 30 MAY. Energy Council
- SPRING 2024. First European Climate Risk Assessment
- 6-9 JUNE: European elections
- 17 JUNE. Environment Council (Luxembourg)
- 27-28 JUNE. European Council
[Edited by Rajnish Singh]
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